I am so happy I was able to experience a mystical place like this.
Thursday: Travel to Ha Long Bay
On Thursday morning, I ate an early breakfast and waited for the bus to pick me up. I was happy to see that I was actually the first passenger, which meant I could pick the seat with the best leg room (#tallgirlprobs). We spent the next 40 minutes or so driving around the crowded Old Quarter, picking up other tourists. On the way out of the city, we were stopped by traffic police. Our driver gave money to the officer in the back of the bus so that he would ignore the fact that we had stopped in Old Quarter on a weekend, which is apparently against the rules. Once we were officially on the road, our tour guide introduced himself as Binh, pronounced like "bean," because he ate a lot of beans when he was young (or so he says!). He told us a lot about Hanoi and Vietnam as well traveled. As we crossed the bridge out of the city, I learned that the Red River runs from China to Vietnam. It's worth mentioning because the name comes from the clay in Sa Pa, which made my heart go pitter-pat! I also learned that "ha" means "river." Hanoi is on the river, and I was headed to Ha Long Bay. Yes, makes sense! Binh also warned us about roads and traffic in Vietnam. He joked that drivers have much older-looking faces because of the stress of driving in this country. He also explained that honking in this part of the world does not signify aggression; rather, it means, "I want to overcome you" (or "I'm passing you"). Finally I understand all the honking in Yangon, which is something that has driven me crazy since I move here. I still don't love the incessant honking, but now it's a little more tolerable since I have a better understanding of it. Thanks, Binh!
Another delicious breakfast. I loved Skyline Hotel!
Following Binh to the bus. We had to catch it in a hurry because it wasn't supposed to park in this part of the city. Notice I got to bring a slightly bigger bag on this trip ;-)
All smiles for lots of leg room!
Binh, my tour guide for the trip to Ha Long Bay
After a rest break mid-trip, Binh got up to tell us some rather uncomfortable stories about sex and babies in the countryside of Vietnam... believe me, you are better off not knowing the details. Unfortunately, he also told us that as of 10 days ago, there is no more kayaking allowed in Ha Long Bay. Disappointment settled in, as this was one of the things I was most excited about on this excursion. I was determined not to let it spoil the trip, so I settled in for the rest of the bus ride.
As we approached Ha Long Bay, Binh told us some much better stories about the bay. Apparently we were traveling from "Soaring Dragon" (the original name for Hanoi) to "Descending Dragon" (Ha Long Bay). I love cultures with folklore and legends (one of things I loved most about Ireland!). According to legend, Mother Dragon and Baby Dragon spat fire to help the Vietnamese defend their country from invaders, and once the country was safe, the dragons turned to limestone so they could stay and protect Vietnam from future invaders. "Plus," added Binh, "the landscape there is beautiful." They were definitely right about that last part! Binh later joked that the dragons were sent to Ha Long Bay to make Vietnam rich, because they attract so many foreign and domestic tourists every year. Haha.
The harbor
"Welcome aboard!" drink (a very sweet juice)
Then we checked into our rooms - on this trip I had to pay extra because I was a "single"
I decided almost immediately that it wasn't a bad thing to wake up to a view of the water.
The bathroom was quite small. I actually had to step into the shower in order to close the door and get to the sink and the toilet. It was also my least favorite part of the experience because the smell was awful from being all closed up!
After lunch, we set out for our first adventure on the bay. On the original itinerary, this was supposed to be when we went kayaking, but because of government sanctions, we ended up in chartered rowboats. They rowed us into this harbor as Chinese tourists took pictures of the rowboat full of Westerners. At one point, the rowboat stopped near a limestone island and our tour guide started making sounds that he explained were monkey calls. I sat and wondered silently to myself how long it would take for King Kong to appear. Fortunately, it was only small monkeys that came and played on the vines near us. I was not entirely convinced that we were safe until we left the harbor (that is how those movies start, am I right??). Fortunately, King Kong never appeared. Maybe he was sleeping?
Lunch was delicious. We had this weird but tasty fried corn that was kind of like the Vietnamese version of popcorn, along with some incredibly fresh and yummy seafood.
I'm obsessed with the coffee in Vietnam!
Views from the top.
I can see the dragon-like humps here.
Our ferry-shuttle that took us to the rowboats and the cave.
Strapped in and ready for adventure!
This is where we caught the rowboats.
We needed tickets for the rowboats.
Here we go!
This guy was brave. My clumsy self definitely would have fallen off the front of the boat!
We went through this little nook that took us to a small, quiet harbor by the island with the monkeys.
Fortunately, it was these cute little guys that responded to the monkey calls, and not King Kong.
On our way back to the boat, I saw people playing volleyball on the small platform! "Out" really was out, because the ball would go in the water. It was a mad dash to grab it before it floated away.
We went back to our boat and then made our way to Surprising Cave, which is the biggest cave in Ha Long Bay. Binh pointed out shapes of various rocks like you would do with clouds: "That one looks like a _____" (monkey, Santa Claus, cobra, Happy Buddha... and a whole lot of them apparently looked like a certain part of the male anatomy, and some rather inappropriate jokes ensued). Despite the weird jokes, it was interesting to walk around the cave and see what water and earthquakes had done over the years.
Heading to Surprising Cave - you can see the lookout point about halfway up the limestone.
So many stairs! I'm in training for Mt. Popa - right, Mom?? ;-)
The light was weird here, but I had to take a selfie. Notice I had to wear a scarf and a sweater. (The scarf was from Su Su in Sapa.) I was so happy to not be sweating!
Inside the cave, they had carved many stairs for visitors.
I don't know why, but the stop signs made me giggle.
They have installed lights throughout the cave, which created a pretty cool effect.
Some of the crevices were a little tight for this tall girl! #notvietnamesesized
This red laser pointer was how Binh would point out rock formations to us.
Being in that cave really made me realize not only how small I am, but also how short our lifetime is, in the grand scheme of things. How many millions of years did it take for the rocks to look like this? Thirty is definitely not old - but I've been saying that all along! We continued to climb the top for a view, which was quite pretty.
Pretty sure those "legs" are man-made carvings. Just a hunch.
The climb was definitely worth it, if you ask me.
For the most part, our rides around the harbor were silent. I think we were taking it all in.
Although Ha Long Bay is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and fishermen have been kicked out, there is still a small "village" that lives here because they don't know any other way of living, other than on the water.
We made our way back to the boat just as the exhaustion started to hit me. It had been a whirlwind few days, so I allowed myself to take a little cat nap before happy hour started. Then a few us went upstairs to try to catch the sunset. It was super hazy that day, which created an eerie, mystical, and almost magical atmosphere in the bay. Unfortunately, that also meant that we could not see the sun go down, so I sipped on my delicious cocktail while some far-off light switch flipped the harbor from day to night.
#iwokeuplikethis
This was definitely one of the prettiest cocktails I've ever had, but it was also one of the most delicious I've had too! The passionfruit was fresh, and the seeds were deliciously tart in the margarita.
Even though I didn't get my sunset, it was still a lovely way to pass the time.
And suddenly, the light switch was "off" and it was nighttime in Ha Long Bay.
For dinner that night, Binh taught us how to make our own spring rolls. They were delicious! So fresh and yummy, and the fact that I have any culinary success is quite frankly a miracle.
After the spring rolls, there were many more dishes that came out. Everything I tried was scrumptious and had beautiful presentations too. I think the food was one of my favorite parts of this trip, other than, you know, the stunning views constantly surrounding me.
The spread for our spring rolls.
#imadethat
They were so good! I had seconds. Okay, fourths or fifths. Stop judging me - I was on vacation!
Shrimp tastes way better with carrot flowers!
They used all parts of the pineapple - the outside and the core became a really pretty decoration for one of our dessert platters.
There was no wifi onboard (yay!), so after dinner, Binh taught us a few games and riddles. Some of them were a little infuriating and took a long time to solve, but it was quite satisfying when we did. Later, we went squid fishing. I did this for close to an hour. I don't know if it was the act of being on the water, the repetitive nature of the bobbing rod, or the fact that I was determined to catch something, but there was something so therapeutic about it. In fact, I was in such a trance that I didn't even notice all the conversations around me. When I watched the video back, I was actually surprised to hear how loud it was!
Eventually I went upstairs to look at the stars and remembered that it was hazy in the harbor, and there were no stars to be seen. Instead I had a fascinating conversation with a fellow solo traveler, making his way home to Australia after an internship with the UN in Cambodia. Before I knew it, the time was 11:00, and suddenly I realized how tired I was. I had a very happy sleep that night.
Friday: Ha Long Bay & Back to Hanoi
After a tasty breakfast, we set out to TiTop Island, named for a Soviet general who visited Ha Long Bay decades ago. We hiked up (and up and up... over 410 steps!) to the top of TiTop Island for a 360-degree view of the bay. To say it was stunning is an understatement, but it was also SO CROWDED. It was actually kind of like an aggressive race to the top. Fortunately, I'm pretty fit and made it to the top in a decent amount of time, but as the rest of the people trickled to the top, I became quite overwhelmed. After snapping some quick pictures, I made my way back down to the beach, where I plopped down in the sand next to some friends from my boat. Things really turned around when someone asked if I would play on their beach volleyball team. It was super fun. I took a quick dip in the refreshingly cold water (in all of my clothes, which made me feel a childlike glee) before returning to the boat.
It kind of changes the vibe of the island to see a statue of an angry-looking Soviet politician/general at the base of an island. But it was definitely a unique experience, to say the least!
The ticketing system was so funny. They handed out the tickets, and we almost immediately handed them back as we crossed the entryway. But we went through the formalities because they were quite strict about it.
I took a mini break on my way up the stairs to catch these views through the trees.
I lost count of stairs around 409 because they became quite steep and narrow at the top, but these views were totally worth the climb.
My smiled was a bit strained here because I had literally just said to the guy behind me, "Look, if you just take my picture for me, I will get out of your way!" Maybe a bit aggressive, but you would react that way if someone gave you a dirty look like that too.
The trek down was even more crowded than the trip up.
Yay!
Not a talkative bunch, I see...
...but the views were peaceful, so I'll take it.
This is the rock that is on the 200,000 VND.
See it?
We also passed Fighting Cock Island, which is very popular for Asian tourists to visit (hence, all the boats). The guide on this boat kept calling them the "loving kissing chickens." This made me giggle.
We made it back to shore. I took a deep breath and reconnected with the world. Once again, I was not ready for the overwhelming-ness that is social media. However, I was happy to see that my mom had emailed me a picture of my latest mail to arrive at her house: My Masters diploma!
*Cue all the feels of pride and happiness*
On the bus ride "home," I realized how happy I was about my trip to Ha Long Bay. I really am glad I took that trip. As the number of motorbikes became more and more dense, I realized we were close to the city again. It turns out two of my coworkers were in Hanoi that night, too. I checked back into my wonderful hotel to find that I was on the top floor (known henceforth as the penthouse, OBVIOUSLY). I showered and headed to meet my friends for dinner. I took them to my favorite pho place - the one down the alleyway that I ate on my first night in this charming city. I was hoping it was as delicious as I remembered, and that I wasn't just in some hazy sort of delirium. I was delighted as I took my first bite and realized it was in fact delicious. We ate our dinner on some small plastic chairs in the alleyway. I decided to take them up on the offer to go grab a drink and listen to some jazz at the Polite Pub. We sipped our yummy cocktails and talked about how much we all loved Vietnam. All in all, the drinks were lovely, the atmosphere was incredible, and the company was absolutely delightful. Hands down, this was the best Friday night I've had in ages.
Yep, we're almost back to Hanoi!
This amazed me - parent pickup outside of a school looks slightly different in this city!
Home sweet home! Our plastic chairs were set up near those motorbikes on the right when I met my friends for dinner.
Views from the penthouse! Hehe.
Time for some cocktails and some live music.
Interesting decor
D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. My cocktail had lime, basil, and sherbet.
We had a bird's-eye view of the band.
On my walk home, I passed this street performer. It was such an interesting way to end my evening. I went to sleep thinking about how much I loved this city.
Good night to you too, Hanoi <3
Sounds like you had such a great trip! Now that you are coming up on year one of this teaching experience, are you thinking of staying in Myanmar for longer than two years? If I recall, that is the length of your original contract.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVED this trip! Vietnam is one of my favorite places so far. I really do love Southeast Asia. To be honest, I am not sure what will happen in the next year. It's a little weird not knowing. I think I have an idea, but a lot can change in the next few months. I kind of have to watch a few things evolve, especially on the work front. Two years is the initial contract, and I will have to decide whether or not to extend by November.
DeleteAs long as you're still enjoying it that is what matters! I mean, you can always look for a job somewhere else internationally if you make the decision in November to not continue.
DeleteExactly! Meanwhile, I'm loving this adventure :-) It's absolutely where I need to be right now!
Delete